Taizo Hori
, originally known as , is the protagonist of the Dig Dug series and a main character in the Mr. Driller series. Taizo was born on January 1st, and is 45 years old in the Mr. Driller series. His blood type is O.Taizo Hori's profile in the Mr. Driller G official site Story In 1982, Taizo solved the "Dig Dug incident" caused by Pookas and Fygars, and some time later the problem in the tropical islands that happened in Dig Dug II. Afterwards, he was treated as a hero. At one point of his life, Taizo was married with Masuyo Tobi, but they separated for unknown reasons. They had three sons: Susumu Hori, Ataru Hori, and Taiyo Tobi. Taizo is the chairman of the Driller Council. In Taizo's appearances in the Mr. Driller games as a playable character, he can drill at high speed, but his air gauge decreases fast. In Dig Dug: Digging Strike, Taizo is jealous of Susumu receiving all the attention as he was the first Driller. When he received a call from Horinesia to ask for help from Susumu, Taizo said he could help with it, but as the person never heard of him and insisted to talk with Susumu, he got angry and decided to do the job himself. Appearances in other games Star Trigon Taizo appears as a playable character in the Windows release of Star Trigon, where he is simply known as "Dig Dug". Namco Super Wars Dig Dug is a playable character that joins the group alongside Mappy in the end of stage 16. Namco × Capcom In the game Namco × Capcom, Taizo is a former soldier that now lives as a Digger (Digouter in Japan, a term from the Mega Man Legends series). In Chapter 21, Taizo, Mega Man Volnutt, and Roll Caskett ended up in the Third Moon due to a dimensional transfer and are attacked by the villains inside, including artificially created Pookas. The party rescues them and Taizo joins the group. In the end, he says the way he likes to dig isn't like a Digger and wonders if a job called "Driller" would be more fitting. Masuyo jokingly calls him "Mr. Driller". Dig Dug BIG NCT Taizo appeared in the slot machine. In the screen of the casino slot machine, he can be seen running from a Pooka; goal scene with Pooka and Fygar, and the gameplay of the arcade. Namco High Taizo became the principal of the Namco High, with King as his assistant. Cameos *The Famista series features a member named after Taizo as part of the Namco Stars team. *Taizo makes a cameo in Wreck-It Ralph, where he drills underground while approaching Ralph. In the sequel, Ralph Breaks the Internet, Taizo appears in a crowd of people discussing the WiFi. *In the Bravoman webseries episode Couch of Doom, a statue of Taizo and a Pooka appear in Bravoman's front yard. Gallery NSWDigDug.png|Mugshot from Namco Super Wars Famista2011Taizo.png|Taizo's appearance in Pro Yakyu Famista 2011 NxCTaizoHori.jpg|Taizo as he appears in Namco X Capcom TaizoTrigon.png|Taizo's appearance in Star Trigon Screen Shot 2012-10-11 at 2.26.57 PM.png|Cameo in Wreck-It Ralph See also *Black Dig Dug Trivia *His name is a pun on the Japanese phrase "Horitai zo" (掘りたいぞ) or "I want to dig!" (掘り = dig, たい = want, ぞ = !) References Category:Dig Dug and Mr. Driller characters Category:Namco × Capcom characters Category:Namco Super Wars characters